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Thalassaemia constituted a grave problem in countries where malaria was formerly prevalent until quite recently. More intense efforts made in the 70s in Cyprus and other high prevalence countries resulted in good prevention and control measures, consequently leading to the drastic reduction of the number of affected births. This saved resources for improved care of existing patients, a fact which led to increased rates of survival. However, the above applied mainly to Europe. Once the high number of thalassaemia patients and the lack of prevention programmes in other continents were noted, it was realised that the case was far from closed. In 1986, patients with thalassaemia and parents from England, Italy, Greece, Cyprus, Pakistan and the USA met in Milan, Italy, to discuss the issue. They decided that a patients’ organisation was needed to ensure that patients around the world received adequate treatment and a chance at a quality life, to promote prevention and control programmes, and to advocate for patients’ rights. One of these five people was Panos Englezos, who had a child with thalassaemia. He undertook to prepare the statutes of the organisation and he founded the Thalassaemia International Federation, which was officially registered in 1987 with headquarters in Nicosia, Cyprus.